Six things: A critical role fanfic
by Selective scifi junkie
Summary: "Six things could go badly wrong in the next quarter of an hour. Delilah felt herself rehearsing the list in her mind as she took her seat at the table, between Frederickstein and Julius, the two oldest de Rolo men." The Whitestone massacre through Delilah Briarwood's eyes. No spoilers beyond c1e33. Possibly deserves to be more than a T for violence, but canon typical at worst.


**Summary: Six things could go badly wrong in the next quarter of an hour. Delilah felt herself rehearsing the list in her mind as she took her seat at the table, between Frederickstein and Julius, the two oldest de Rolo men. The Whitestone Massacre through Delilah Briarwood's eyes**

**Spoilers: None beyond 1e25 or so**

**Rating and content warnings: T for a lot of blood, and child killing. It's the Briarwoods.**

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Six things could go badly wrong in the next quarter of an hour. Delilah felt herself rehearsing the list in her mind as she took her seat at the table, between Frederickstein and Julius, the two oldest de Rolo men.

One, someone in the room could scream and raise the guard before they'd finished the first room. She'd been flicking her hands through the motions for Silence all the time she'd been alone with Silas all evening. They had a code word.

Two, she could lose her concentration on the illusion spell that concealed Silas's sword, which would force them to rush, and make them likely to make mistakes. So she'd better not lose her concentration.

Three, once they'd started, Silas could lose his head and feed. That would leave her and Anders very, very vulnerable. It didn't happen often, but it did occasionally happen, and Delilah was expecting a lot of blood.

Four, Silas's sword might get too much for him, he was probably going to do most of the killing. That thing had a mind of its own. Usually, its purposes aligned nicely with theirs, but they'd had a couple of scraps with it.

ive, one of the de Rolos could get out after they'd started. They'd quickly get out of range of the Silence spell and raise the alarm. That was Anders's job. He was nearest to the door, so his job was to keep this small horde of children in.

Six, one of the two men next to her could kill her, or at least do enough damage to make her drop her spell, before Silas got to them. Unfortunately, they'd been seated with two de Rolos between them, and Delilah was flanked by probably the two most dangerous men. She had a knife strapped to her thigh, Silas would kill Frederickstein first, she was to stab Julius and get under the table.

If none of those six things happened, in a few minutes, they would have cut off the serpent's head. Without the de Rolos, there would be little left in Whitestone to resist. They could take control and hold it, then look to the next task. If a de Rolo escaped, they'd be a focal point for rebellion. They could not risk that.

Anders pushed the youngest girl's chair in as she sat down, then took his own seat.

"It is good to see you again Silas, Delilah." Frederickstein said. Delilah murmured her thanks.

Silas was clearer. "And to you, all of you. In fact, with your permission, Lord de Rolo, I was wondering if I might make a short speech in honour of our friendship." A bespectacled boy on the other side of the table cocked his head at Silas.

"By all means." Frederickstein said.

Sylas stood up. Sword still invisible. Good. Delilah set her hands at the first position for Silence as Silas walked to behind Frederickstein and Johanna. "Lord de Rolo, Lady de Rolos, and de Rolos in waiting. Your friendship to me and Delilah has-"

The code. Her name. Delilah gasped a breath, spoke the word, and moved. She didn't hear the end of the incantation. The moment she saw the sword, it was in Silas's hands. She hitched her skirt and went for her knife. The man on her right was doubling over, trying to cry out in pain as Silas drove Craven Edge in to him. The man on her left was standing up. Delilah pulled her knife up and drove it in to his chest. Blood on her hands, something warm on her back. Silas had withdrawn his sword from Frederickstein and was turning on Johanna. Delilah threw herself down and curled up. She had to keep the spell up. She had to let Silas do his work. Nobody could cast anything. Nobody here would be a threat to Silas hand to hand. He would be fine. He could handle this.

Delilah felt rather than heard bodies hitting the floor. She couldn't stop herself glancing around to check that none of them was Silas. That one was wearing a dress, that one was far too small…

After a minute or so, a hand grabbed her wrist and pulled her out from under the table. She gasped and tensed. Silas. Of course it was Silas. He nodded at her. He was drenched in blood. So was the floor. So was the table. So was everything. She dropped the spell.

"Are you alright?" She asked. He was breathing hard.

He nodded. "You?"

She nodded. "Is that all of them?"

"Ludwig, Whitney," Anders was counting aloud. "Vesper, this one's not dead, Julius, Oliver…"

"Which one's not dead?" Delilah asked.

"Percival." Anders said. "Fainted as soon as he saw blood, so you missed him."

"We did say we'd leave a little one for Ripley."

"He's not exactly a little one, but he'll do. Clever boy, he'll have plenty for Ripley to find in his head."

"Delilah," Silas started. "can you tie him up and gag him, please?" Delilah nodded and set about it. By the look on Silas's face, the blood was getting to him a little, and the boy was splattered with the blood of one of his siblings. Silas was afraid he'd bite him.

"Hang on." Anders said. "Hang on. Lord, Lady, Julius, Vesper, Percy's there, Oliver, Whitney, Ludwig… Where's Cassandra?"

"What?"

"Where's Cassandra? We're missing one."

Silas swore. "That was your job! Keep them all in here. That was you."

"I was holding that one." Anders pointed to a boy of maybe thirteen years, still twitching, his guts spilling across the floor from a wound in his side that could only have come from Craven Edge. It didn't matter. Nothing in this room mattered now.

"She'll be raising the alarm." Delilah said, standing up. "We need to go, we need to go now."

She closed her eyes and Sent to Ripley. _"We have a runaway. Are you in position?"_

"_Of course you do and of course I am. Draw their fire. We'll be fine."_

Delilah drew a breath and spoke aloud. "We go now."

"Are you going to..?" Silas gestured at the bodies.

Delilah shook her head. "We agreed, remember? These we need to display. The next ones we meet I'll turn."

Silas nodded and took a deep breath. "Keep behind me." Delilah nodded. "I love you."

"I know." She drew a slow breath. Circle of Death. That would probably be her best spell first of all. Or Finger of Death, but that was her most powerful spell gone. She pushed the breath out again. She just had to stay behind Silas. That would be enough. They'd dealt with the family, next was the castle, then they could rest. They could consolidate their forces, pad them out with undead, and take a breath. The town was a problem for tomorrow.

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**Here's to the best villains of campaign 1. I have another fic about them in progress.**


End file.
